Is imaginative play just a waste of time?
Elise left this comment on my previous post, Why Do We Keep Ignoring This Message;
“I have had play dates where parents have said to me that they do not believe in imaginary play as they see it as a ludicrous waste of time. Well, not in this house, we spend a lot of time every day imagining, going on journey’s, dressing up etc etc.”
It really saddens me that parents are not aware of the value of imaginative play to young children. I completely understand that as parents we want our children to be intelligent and to succeed academically. I get that. My question is, “Don’t we want our children to be successful, well rounded individuals?’”
If so, then we must also value imaginative play for the many learning opportunities it provides for children.
Imaginative play is not a waste of time. Educational researchers have reported the benefits to children’s language, learning and social potential since the 1960’s!
Imaginative play;
Provides children with a ‘safe’ avenue for acting out the ideas they are developing about the world. By safe, I mean without the judgment or interference of adults.
Let me give you an example. Immy and I recently went on a play date with a new group of children we had not previously met. Immy is just two, the other children ranged from 2 1/2- 3 1/2. During the course of the play date, there were a couple of incidents involving sharing and turn taking (or rather the absence of it) amongst the children, which is completely normal for children within this age range. At one stage, Immy and another little boy tussled over a play teapot and Immy had difficultly understanding why it wasn’t yet her turn, even though she was saying, “My turn now.” We had a few tears of frustration which I know are simply a normal part of being two and learning about the world.
Shortly after we got home, I heard Immy saying, “My turn now. Share. You share.” I peeked around the corner and saw her sitting with her two mini dolls in hand acting out what had happened earlier at the play date. Through her imaginative play she was trying to make sense of the social world, her play was helping to reinforce the life lessons she is learning.
Aids language development: Studies have found that children engaging in role play use much more explicit, descriptive language in their play, thus developing a richer, more complex vocabulary. Especially when engaging with other children in dramatic play (role play and make believe play).
Here is another example, this one is taken from the daily dairy of my former child care centre and involves three 4 year old boys and their educator;
D transformed into a Mexican dancer, with sombrero on head and a musical dancing stick in his hand. He twirled and swirled, sashayed and jiggled, tapped with his feet and threw his stick lightly into the air. He did this for quite some time, clearly absorbed in his dancing routine. J soon followed with a sombrero and dancing stick of his own. The two danced and danced, oblivious to all else.
Educator: “Hey Mexican dancers! Time to go to sleep. It’s night time.”
D: “It’s night time… but I don’t want to sleep. I’m having my show…I’m not tired.”
J: “I’m ALLERGIC to sleep.”
Educator: “What? Allergic to sleep?” (amused)
J: “Yes, when I sleep noodles will come out of my nose.”
D: “Yes, I’m allergic to sleep too and when I sleep noodles will come out of my nose.”
Educator: “Is that so…”
M (onlooker): “I’m allergic to dancing!”
I see this as a wonderful example of children experimenting with language and its many meanings through their imaginative play.
Aids emotional development: It helps children to develop empathy and consideration of others and allows them to express their own feelings and emotions, both positive and negative. Think of a child soothing a doll to sleep or alternatively, grumbling at the doll to ‘eat up her dinner.’
Aids social development: Imaginative play allows children to practice social skills and demonstrate their understanding of social roles, for example, how to enter a group and how to negotiate with other children. These are all essential skills, necessary for living a full and happy life within the broader community.
Provides for extended play: Young children engage and persevere in imaginative play over extended periods of time. Often for much longer periods then they demonstrate in other forms of play.
When we look at the list of skills employers are seeking in the working world of today (Skills for Success: What Employers Want – from Graduate Careers Australia), a strong emphasis is placed on the skills of;
- Team work
- Creative problem solving
- Emotional intelligence
- Interpersonal skills
- Adaptability
- Community involvement
The development of these skills is just as important as their academic ability. In fact, in some professional fields, they are actually more important. Imaginative play alone, with other children, or with interested adults, will help to develop these important lifelong skills.
So you tell me, is imaginative play just a waste of time?
Related Posts
- Tips for Parents: Embracing Pretend Play
- Encouraging Independent Play
- Loose Parts for Creative and Imaginative Play
Imaginative play is the best! We spend hours on imaginative play in speech therapy, at early intervention, at home. It is the single best way I have found to teach my daughters how to function in our world.
If you would like another example I have recent blog post about my daughter working through her anxiety about starting school – http://leechbabe.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/starting-school-tomorrow/
And happily we had an excellent start to school and she has settled in very well. I expect school play will start to feature much more in our lives now.
To underestimate the value of play is to do our children a great disservice.
As an only child (and for 6 years living on a quite isolated farm) imaginative play was a huge part of my life. It is the way children learn to solve problems for themselves. Without imagination our world would be so dull and lifeless. I am 78 and still have a great imagination and hope I always will have.
When I first started teaching, my classroom was full of dramatic play. It seemed like whatever activity we were engaged in, if I let the children have the room to make it their own, dramatic/imaginative play erupted. I felt good about this, thinking that there must be something about my teaching style that fosters it.
I worried, however, that I must be weak in other areas because this imaginative play would always wind up taking over the block area, the art table, the sensory table and even the snack table. I've now learned that, if allowed to set their own agenda, most children will naturally inject dramatic play into nearly everything they do.
Like you write, it's the main way they make sense of the world.
i have not included imaginative but I do let the watercolor and color pencil run wild in the little people's hands.
For me, its being outdoors having plenty of work out. Grown up to love exercises of any kind.
So often we forget that children learn best by doing (most adults still learn best that way too)… so imaginative play, make believe and pretending is their hands on learning, and it covers every area of development all at once… can't get much better 'value' from play than that!
Imaginative play is invaluable in our house. You can gain such an insight into your children's world; thinking and reasoning, through hearing the scenarios they create when they use their imagination to play.
I couldn't agree more with SquiggleMum.
Thank you so much for your kind words about me 🙂
It is so sad to think there are parents who think that imaginative play is a waste of time! First and foremost, especially when we're talking about kids under school age, they're children. We shouldn't expect them to act like little adults; they have the rest of their lives to do that. But when I think about the skills that make a person truly happy and successful, they're not the reading and writing skills; we all have those, and for the most part, they aren't what make the difference between being a really successful person (in a variety of ways) and not. It's the ability to move fluidly between situations, to express feelings in meaningful ways, to follow rules and to understand when not to follow them, to think and act in creative ways. And those are all the skills that come out when children simply pretend. In a time when kids' lives are so over-scheduled and we worry so much about their safety that their freedom is seriously compromised, free creative play is really vital.
Thank you so much for your supportive comments. If only we could spread this message so that all adults could appreciate the value of imaginative play.
What a wonderful post! It's music to my ears. Encouraging imaginative play is one of the most important things I feel I can do for my children. It helps them learn and it will set them up for life in general.